Wave making apparatuses are often used for recreational purposes. They create one or more waves in a pool or the like, and people typically either play in the waves or use the waves for aquatic sports such as board sports. Aquatic board sports, such as surfing and bodyboarding, require that the waves be rideable. Enthusiasts in these types of sports often use wave making apparatuses for competition, practice and entertainment.
Once such example of a wave making apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,815,396. FIG. 6 is a simplified side view of the wave making apparatus 5 disclosed in the '396 patent. The apparatus 5 has a wave pool 10 with a bottom 12. At one end of the wave pool 10 is a wave making chamber 15 that pushes or releases water into the wave pool 10, creating a wave. The chamber is designed to receive and release water from the pool 10 through the passageway 17 (shown by arrow 18), lift and lower the water level in the chamber 15 (shown by arrow 19), and to thereby create a wave within the pool 10. In this design, the passageway 17 to the pool 10 is submerged within the pool water.
A major drawback to this design is that the release of the water through the passageway 17 will generate eddy currents that interfere with the stability and rideability of the wave. This is shown in FIG. 7A-7H. These figures show one cycle. FIG. 7A is the start of water release from the wave generating chamber into the wave pool, and a high velocity eddy 60 begins to form. In FIG. 7B, moments later, the eddy 65 is moving through the passageway 17 into the wave pool 10, and a rideable wave 67 begins to form. FIG. 7C, still moments later, shows that the high velocity eddy 70 continues in the wave pool 10, and by FIG. 7D, clear eddies 75 have formed that affect the wave pool surface, shown by an eddy-induced pool surface depression 76. It should be noted that the wave 72 shown in FIG. 7C is not well-formed, and this is because the eddies 70, 76 are drawing water away from the wave front and eroding the wave formation. FIGS. 7E through 7H show the eddies 80, 85, 90 and 95, which are causing a significant disruption to the wave pool surface, shown by eddy-induced pool surface depressions 82, 87, 92 and 97. Not only do the eddies erode wave formation, but they require that the operator delay actuating the wave making chamber for a subsequent wave formation until the water is sufficiently placid. Otherwise, the wave surface disruptions would further erode the rideable wave.
What is needed, therefore, is a way to mitigate the eddy currents to promote a stable and rideable wave, in an apparatus that can quickly reset and produce subsequent waves.